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Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Carrefour teams up with Uber Eats for lockdown deliveries

French supermarket retailer Carrefour and Uber Eats said on Wednesday they would launch a new delivery service aimed at helping Parisians buy essential goods and food during the nationwide lockdown triggered by the coronavirus crisis.

Delivery groups and takeaway companies across Europe have been tapping into soaring demand for their services as customers grapple with how to stock up on basic goods during the shutdowns.
Supermarkets are still open in France and elsewhere, though many have restricted the number of shoppers who can enter at one time for safety reasons, while many customers are looking to reduce their store visits.
Carrefour and Uber Eats’ new service will start with around 15 stores in Paris and the surrounding region on April 6, before being rolled out nationwide. It allow users to choose a Carrefour convenience store on the Uber Eats app or website.
They can also order products by phone from 11am to 11pm, including everyday grocery shopping as well as hygiene and cleaning products. Customers will also be able to get deliveries at home within 30 minutes on average.
Uber Eats will waive delivery fees on all Carrefour orders during the month of April.
Some delivery companies have come in for criticism over working conditions for staff and related services like Uber’s better known ride sharing app, which is widely used but had sparked protests from taxi firms in countries like France.
In Britain, Deliveroo announced two services last month to help people who are self-isolating because of the coronavirus – the first supplying essentials, such as tinned goods, pasta and household items, and the second, a tie-up with Marks & Spencer’s stores on BP forecourts.
Goods such as toilet paper and tissues or tinned tuna are also available for delivery via Deliveroo from Casino-owned Franprix stores in Paris.
In Spain, Uber Eats said it was teaming up with Galp, an energy and gas station group, to provide home deliveries of cleaning products and toiletries from its convenience stores.
In Brazil, Uber Eats will also work with pharmacies, convenience stores and pet shops to get supplies flowing, it said.
Carrefour had already been exploring options of this kind before the coronavirus crisis, as supermarket groups face competition from the likes of Amazon. Last year, it partnered with Spanish start-up Glovo to provide a fast home delivery services.

https://www.marketscreener.com/AMAZON-COM-INC-12864605/news/Carrefour-teams-up-with-Uber-Eats-for-lockdown-deliveries-30287401/

Social distancing stocks defy down market

Stocks seen benefiting from a longer stretch of Americans staying at home are marching higher today with the vision of an Easter return to normal activity in the U.S. dashed.
Social distancing plays Blue Apron (APRN +15.1%), Kroger (KR +4.9%), Peloton Interactive (PTON +1.5%), Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM +4.4%), Office Depot (ODP +2.7%), Campbell Soup (CPB +2.2%), Papa John’s International (PZZA +2.6%) and Sanderson Farms (SAFM +0.5%) are all higher.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3557299-social-distancing-stocks-defy-down-market-down

Genetic Tech up 23% on planned launch of consumer-initiated testing

Genetic Technologies Limited (GENE +22.6%) bucks the broad market selloff, albeit on below-average volume, with its update on the launch of its breast cancer and colorectal cancer tests in Australia.
It says about half of the 100 test kits requested have been received into its Melbourne lab. On a preliminary basis, four patients have been identified as potentially high risk for developing breast cancer who would not have been identified as such during routine health checks.
Citing the COVID-19 pandemic, it is accelerating its plans to launch a Consumer Initiated Testing Platform that will allow patients to request a GeneType test directly from the company with clinician oversight of the testing process through an independent provider network and telemedicine.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3557297-genetic-tech-up-23-on-planned-launch-of-consumer-initiated-testing

Immunomedics down 21% on rumored delay in sacituzumab govitecan scale up

Immunomedics (IMMU -20.6%) is down on a 5x surge in volume in apparent response to social media rumblings of a delay in upgrading a facility at Samsung Biologics that is earmarked to produce commercial-scale quantities of the humanized antibody used in antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan (IMMU-132). Samsung will manufacture it at its site in Incheon, South Korea per a September 2018 agreement.
Linker-drug payload manufacturing and conjugation of the antibody and linker drug, as well as fill/finish activities, will be done elsewhere (10-K, page 18).
IMMU’s U.S. marketing application for triple-negative breast cancer is currently under FDA review with an action date of June 2.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3557309-immunomedics-down-21-on-rumored-delay-in-sacituzumab-govitecan-scale-up

Home Depot stops selling N95 masks, will give supplies to hospitals

Home Depot will no longer sell respirator masks to the general public, donating them instead to hospitals amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced Wednesday.
The hardware giant has placed a “stop-sale” order on N95 masks and redirected shipments to be given to hospitals, health-care providers and first-responders, the company said. The sale halt applies in Home Depot’s nearly 2,300 stores and on its website.
The Atlanta-based retailer said it has also donated millions of dollars worth of personal protective equipment as hospitals battling the coronavirus run low on masks and other supplies.
“As our communities battle COVID-19, The Home Depot is committed to providing the essential needs required to maintain homes and businesses while doing our best to protect our valued customers and associates,” Craig Menear, the company’s chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement.
US health-care workers have reported shortages of N95 masks, which filter out airborne particles and form a seal around the nose and mouth. Home Depot joined other big companies such as Goldman Sachs and Japanese investment giant SoftBank in donating masks to the coronavirus response effort.
The pandemic has also led to several changes at Home Depot stores, which will now at 6 p.m., so there’s enough time to sanitize and re-stock them, the company said.
The chain has limited the number of shoppers allowed in the stores at one time, marked floors and added signage to encourage social distancing, and killed spring promotions so customers don’t flock to the stores.
Home Depot said it’s distributing thermometers to store and distribution center employees so they can perform “health checks” before reporting to work.
The company is also increasing paid time off for hourly staffers and providing up to 14 paid days off for those who have to be quarantined, according to a news release.
https://nypost.com/2020/04/01/home-depot-stops-selling-n95-masks-will-give-supplies-to-hospitals/

Masimo sees Q1 sales growth above consensus

Masimo (MASI -0.9%) is giving COVID-19-rattled healthcare investors a ray of hope with its preliminary Q1 results.
Product sales should be $265M – 271M, above consensus of ~$252M, although management says it will not provide guidance this year.
Consensus EPS for the quarter is $0.87.
Final results will be released on Tuesday, April 28, after the close.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3557221-masimo-sees-q1-sales-growth-above-consensus

Akorn defaults on loan

Akorn (NASDAQ:AKRX) slips 20% premarket on modest volume in reaction to its announcement that it no longer has any potential bids to buy the company that are sufficient to pay all of its obligations under its term loan agreement, triggering an immediate default.
The loan interest payable has now increased to LIBOR + 12.50% plus a 2.00% default rate.
The company will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection no later than May 1 as it seeks to sell substantially all of its assets.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3557098-akorn-defaults-on-loan-shares-down-20-premarket